The Role of the Military in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
In post-conflict societies, the remnants of war time military and security apparatuses pose great risks to internal security: bloated armies with little or no civilian control; irregular and paramilitary forces; over-abundance in arms and ammunition in private and government hands; weak internal security forces; and a lack of trust in and legitimacy of government?s control over police and military forces. Peacekeeping troops from other nations, regional organizations and the United Nations attempt to support political and economic transition processes, external assistance operations, and the transition of war-time militaries. Political, economic and cultural rebuilding can take place only in an environment where civil-military relations are subjected to a rigorous democratization process, putting the military in the service of society?s security, not its destruction, and where both internal and external military forces are contributing constructively to the rebuilding of society.
In this research project, an international group of academics and practitioners, representing various educational and professional backgrounds and diverse cultures of analysis, reflection and introspection study the human, national and regional dimensions of post-conflict peacebuilding challenges; civil-military relations in war-torn societies; democratization processes and the role of the military; and the role of local and external actors in meeting the challenge of sustainable post-conflict security sector reform/transformation. Case studies from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America put these discussions in a regional and global context.
outputs/publications
Early project results have been published in the form of a policy brief: Hans-Georg Ehrhart, Albrecht Schnabel, and Monica Blagescu, Towards More Effective Assistance in Security Sector Reform ? Policy Brief. Hamburger Informationen zur Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik (No. 34), Hamburg: Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, June 2002. Seven articles have been published in the journal S+F: Sicherheit und Frieden/Security and Peace (Vol. 22, No 1&2, 2004). The project results have been published.
project directors
Hans-Georg Ehrhart (Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg)Albrecht Schnabel (swisspeace)
project contributors
Ho-Won Jeong (George Mason University, Fairfax); Dylan Hendrickson (King?s College, London); Stefan Wolff (University of Bath, Bath); Ann Fitzgerald (Cranfield University, Wiltshire); Karen Guttieri (Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey); Anthony W. Anderson (Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, Cornwallis); Stephen Blackwell (Royal United Services Institute, London); Karin Lisa von Hippel (King's College, London); Biljana Vankovska (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Skopje); Ekaterina A. Stepanova (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow); David Darchiashvili (Tbilisi State University); William Maley (Australian National University, Camberra); Peter Sainsbury (independent researcher, Charlottesville); Chetan Kumar (UNDP, New York); Rocky Williams (African Civil-Military Relations Institute, Pretoria); Julius Weweru Karangi (Commander of Kenyan Air Force, Nairobi); Andres Serbin (Central University of Venezuela, Buenos Aires); Thomas Bruneau (Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey); Nibaldo H. Galleguillos (McMaster University, Hamilton)
partner organizations and funders
United Nations University, Tokyo
Institut for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg
German Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government of Japan